By Tay Shi'an

THEY were young, but they had no qualms peppering Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean with tough questions.

How would you respond to allegations that the Singapore Government is involved in gerrymandering (redrawing electoral boundary lines to their advantage)? How do you make sure civil servants involved in the election process are not biased towards the incumbent People's Action Party (PAP)?

For a dialogue titled 'Singapore General Elections - Do YOUths really care?', the answer was a resounding 'Yes'.

Some 200 youths gathered at the People's Association (PA) headquarters yesterday for a lively two-hour forum on General Elections (GEs), organised by the PA's Youth Movement.

No date has been announced yet about when the next GE may be, other than it has to take place before February 2012.

But that didn't stop the youths from firing questions at the four-person panel, including Mr Teo, and top civil servants involved in the election proceedings.

Central to the discussion: the integrity of the system.

Regarding the neutrality of civil servants, panellist Mrs Owi Beng Ki, deputy principal senior state counsel from the Attorney-General's Chambers, said that under the Singapore constitution, civil servants owe their allegiance to the President.

This means, like the President, they are politically impartial.

Fellow panellist Mr Tan Boon Huat, former Returning Officer for the past three GEs and two Presidential Elections, said: 'I've been involved in the elections since 1976. At no time has any politician given me instructions to do things in his favour.'

Mr Tan, who is also PA's chief executive director, said his instructions to civil servants working during election season are clear: We do nothing to affect the voters' choice.

Mr Teo added that the entire process is transparent and can be inspected by the candidates and their appointed agents, for example, at the counting centres.

Why paper ballot

Answering one youth's question, he said this is the reason why Singapore and the rest of the world stick to paper ballots, rather than switch to an electronic ballot.

An e-ballot may be unable to withstand attacks from unscrupulous persons, said panellist Mr Lee Seng Lup, head of the Elections Department in the Prime Minister's office.

Another popular question: How secret are our votes, given the serial number at the back?

Mr Teo said that in the four elections he has taken part in personally in the past 17 years - three GEs and one by-election - and probably long before that, there has not been a time when the secrecy of the vote has been challenged by any of the parties.

He added: 'As a candidate myself, I want that whole voting sequence to have integrity, because I don't want anybody to have any doubts that I was properly voted in as a Member of Parliament by the majority of the electors in my constituency.'

When one youth asked if new media like Facebook and the Internet would be used for the next GE to publicise candidates, Mr Teo said that for a long time, they have been reluctant to use means like advertising and movies in campaigns.

That's because they wanted to focus on providing factual information on their candidates, rather than something that may fall into the realm of entertainment.But with the recently-announced changes allowing new media, he does expect it to be used in the coming GE.

Another youth asked if the idea of a GRC minority candidate was outdated. Noting that almost all our MPs have university degrees, he wondered if MPs should be chosen to represent more diverse backgrounds, rather than race.

Mr Teo replied that having candidates of different races in a GRC helps prevent race politics, which can be divisive.

He added that while part of an MP's job is to represent his or her constituents, another part is to implement policies to bring people forward.

So parties put forth candidates they feel are capable, and it's not surprising that most of them have university degrees to establish credibility and ability to voters.

One youth also wondered if Singapore would ever face a problem like Malaysia, with elected state assemblymen defecting to different parties and multiple by-elections happening.

Mr Teo said that here, if an MP switches or leaves his party, he automatically loses his seat. If a seat is vacated, a by-election is not required.

Mr Teo said this system is more stable, and allows the Government to focus on running the country, rather than being embroiled in political contests.

Laughter

There were light moments as well.Laughter rippled through the auditorium when one youth described his neighbour's advice to him the first time he voted: 'If you don't like, put a cross.'

A cross means a vote for the candidate.

When asked when the next GE would be, Mr Teo said: 'I can't tell you what the Prime Minister will decide. But I can tell you that with each passing day, the next General Election grows closer by one day.'

Mr Teo said at the end of the dialogue that he was happy with the questions that were brought up, in particular those about the integrity of the electoral procedures.

'It shows you want your votes to mean something, you want your votes to count,' he said.

Teacher Mr Husien Khamis, 26, who asked the 'gerrymandering' question, said he did so as he heard many criticisms about Singapore's method of governance while studying in Australia.

He said that personally, he has never doubted the Singapore system.

This article was first published in The New Paper.